Friday, June 12, 2009

I'm so green somebody ought to pile dirt on my feet

It's a real bummer peeking into my husband's passport because it has lots and lots of stamps. He goes a lot of cool places -- without me. So unfair.

I'm supposed to be happy he's home, right? Yes, I'm happy he's home. I'm thrilled. I don't know that I'm bouncing up and down about the pounds and pounds of chocolate he brought home ("It was cheap! I can't find the mint flavor in the United States, anymore!"), partly because I ate an entire block of Karamell Nuss (caramel nut, I presume?). And, I worry about those little slave boys harvesting the cocoa. But, mostly, I just want to see places like this:

27 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:39 AM

    So what's the coolest stamp in his passport that you wish was in yours?

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  2. I would definitely love to go places like these :) awesome :)

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  3. I have never been outside of the South. But before I die I would love to go to England, Ireland, Italy, and maybe the Caribean. :)

    P.S. I have never been on a plane and they scare the living daylights out of me. lol

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  4. My hubby gets to go some nice places, too, but he usually doesn't get to see any of the sites while he's gone, (at least that's what he tells me) so I don't get too jealous.

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  5. Use his frequent flier miles!! :D

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  6. Your hubby is very lucky to do all that travelling to all these great places. YOu've probably mentioned, but what does he do that gets to travel so much? Very sad though that you can't go along. I'd love to see some of those places too. The mint chocolate sounds heavenly!

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  7. I have traveled a bit but that was before I got married. I would love to take hubby and kiddo(s) to Belfast. It's so beautiful!

    You'll be more able to travel once Will is in college. Not that long left, enjoy the time with the kiddo. :)

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  8. Softdrink,

    Australia and Italy have been at the top of my wish list of places to go for as long as I can remember. He went to both, two years ago.

    Veens,

    I think I'm just going to have to gather some buddies and go on a girls-only trip.

    Brittanie,

    I've been to England, France, Canada (exotic!), Costa Rica, Wales and Scotland. But, it took me about 27 years to go to all those places. I hate the waiting in between trips, waving goodbye to the husband as he goes some cool new place. This was actually his 4th trip to Germany.

    Plane travel is fun, once you get used to it. A lot of people have to get pharmaceutical help, but I'd say it's worth it.

    Kathy,

    My husband always fits in time to at least go to a grocery store or two (in Italy he bought wine and olive oil in the grocery store -- far cheaper than buying at the tourist attractions) and for walks around whatever town he ends up in. He doesn't actually know how to sit still.

    Eva,

    I do. But, just not as often as I'd like. My husband takes an average of 2-3 overseas trips, each year. I go on a vacation about every 2 years. Sigh. Some people just can't be satisfied.

    Dar,

    My husband has a doctorate in geotechnical engineering and attends a lot of international conferences or meetings. He could actually travel overseas a great deal more. He turns down a lot of potential travel because of his whiny wife. When our youngest goes off to college I'll feel free to travel. I could have gone to Italy, last year, but I didn't get my passport renewed in time and I was dragging my feet because I didn't want to leave the teenager to fend for himself, since he was a new driver. It would help if we had relatives nearby, but we don't.

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  9. I can totally relate to this! My husband travels for work too, and it's hard not to be jealous. Thankfully I got to go with him to England a few years ago, but it's not always possible for me to go too, especially since the kids have school.

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  10. Krista,

    I'm considering a trip to Ireland on my own. Yep, I think I was pretty well-traveled before I married. I went to England, Wales and France when I was 17. Then, I married and didn't leave the country (unless you count Canada) for at least a decade.

    You're right; I'll feel much more free to tag along when Will is off at college.

    Alyce,

    Yep, that's exactly it. I have had to stay home with the kids, most of the past 2 decades. We've been to England, a couple of times, and drove from England to Scotland on one of his business trips. Boy, that was something. Now, I understand why the English hop on a train. :) But, when the second child arrived I pretty much ended up stuck at home. I've got one year till I'm an empty nester. I'm looking forward to that, actually. I'll miss the kiddo, but I'm tired of being a stay-at-home.

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  11. Me too.

    Will is almost to the Leave Him At Home stage.

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  12. Does your husband ever get tired of traveling so much? I've always wondered if you had to go so often for your job if it would get old hat. I would love to be able to see more of the world. What I have seen (all in North America) has been fascinating.

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  13. I can totally understand you!
    I'm in Germany and have never been outside of Europe. I've been to "the usual places" (at least for Western Europeans, I think): France, England, and Italy. And Malta for the somewhat more exotic.
    I hope to one day (in the far future) add the USA, Australia, Canada, China, Japan and Israel. Oh, and I'll add South Korea once I've been to the other places ;-)

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  14. So maybe we should plan our trip to Utah, see if we're compatible traveling pals and then plan a trip to Italy, with Bellezza joining us as a tour director/interpreter!! I'm really quite serious. My husband has no desire to travel overseas, so my dream of going to Italy will have to be either by myself or with friends. He doesn't mind if I go. He just doesn't want to go along.

    I'm envious of your husband's passport stamps, too.

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  15. Carrie,

    True. We're working on the slowly letting go bit. If we leave the country without him, we'll have to make sure he has a lot of emergency phone numbers and maybe see if he can drop by for dinner with friends, a couple of times (he tends to overcook things and fill the house with smoke). :)

    Booklogged,

    Yes, he does get tired of traveling. Not everywhere he goes is overseas and he's been traveling an average of 3 out of 4 weeks a month for over 20 years. This past year, he's been working at shifting some of the travel to other people, just because he's traveled so much for so long that our house is falling apart. There's about 20 years of maintenance that needs to be done.

    He always has a good time wherever he goes, though. My husband is not one to sit in a hotel room. If there's something to see, a unique place to eat, an unusual grocery store, something historical, or good scenery . . . he's out there.

    Kathrin,

    I guess it goes both ways then, eh? I've always wished that I could have been one of those people who just took off and backpacked around Europe for a year or two. Meanwhile, I'm in a country with an amazing amount of scenery and diversity and I don't explore it all that much (although I desire to). Maybe we both need to just get going and start to see the sights around us.

    Les,

    Shoot, if you want to do that -- let's just skip Utah and go straight to Italy with Bellezza, if she's willing. David doesn't care. He keeps telling me he'll take me to Italy, but never gets around to the planning and he doesn't mind if I go somewhere on my own (now that we don't have to worry about little ones).

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  16. Bookfool, I agree, the sights around us are usually those we miss. But I am trying to see as much as possible and with the help of family and friends I have seen quite a few nice places in Germany as well :-)
    I still hope you get your backpacking tour through Europe! Let me know once you do :-)

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  17. Kathrin,

    Where exactly are you located in Germany? My husband has a trip to Bonn coming up -- in October, I think.

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  18. I'm in Frankfurt/Main most of the time :-)

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  19. Not so far from Bonn, from the looks of it (using Google Earth). I don't know if I'll be able to weasel my way into the Bonn trip, but I'm going to try.

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  20. Goodness Honey! I saw that there was huge scary tornado in MS and I thought of YOU and then immed. had the thot - hey but Hub is in Germany! guess all is OK?

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  21. Hi Care,

    No tornado, here. We're melting, but otherwise fine, thanks. :) Hubby is home and spent the day trying to make our yard look a little less jungle-like. Yep, all is well, apart from the fact that it's in the 90s with high humidity. Tomorrow, it's supposed to hit 97. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Too early!!!!!

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  22. Let me know whether or not you manage to join your hubby...

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  23. Hmm--I thought I had left a comment here already, but I guess I just thought about leaving a comment (I've been sadly lacking in blogging time lately). I'd be pea green as well, but at least you got some good chocolates out of it. Although, I've gotta say I prefer the Swiss stuff (maybe because I'm Swiss stuf).

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  24. Swiss Miss Trish,

    You're right. They know how to do chocolate in Switzerland. The German stuff is pretty awesome, too. Both make American chocolate taste like wax chunks with chocolate flavor, in my humble opinion.

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  25. Love this picture! Did hubby take it or did you find it online?

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  26. Kris,

    David took that picture. His little cheap digital has a panorama feature. It's Portugal, not Germany, but the point is the same. :)

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